Met hails massive crime crackdown
Police have slashed street crime in one of the capital's most notorious boroughs "delivering beyond" the efforts of officers in New York.
Lambeth police have managed to reduce street crime by 36 per cent, in what Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens called "the biggest reduction in street crime ever".
The number of allegations over the past year was 5,338 compared to 8,343 last year - a fall of more than 3,000.
Sir John paid a visit to Brixton Police Station yesterday to thank officers personally for the reduction, before taking a walk around Brixton to see for himself.
He said: "I'm sick and tired of being told how well the New York Police Department did in combating street crime and with our efforts always being compared to theirs.
"But officers in Lambeth have delivered way beyond what the police in New York delivered and I should know - I lived in New York as a visiting professor."
Despite the dramatic fall, Lambeth still has the highest levels of reported muggings and bag snatches in London.
A Met spokesman said: "We know that there is still a very long way to go but this is still a superb result."
Street crime has been a particular focus of the Met recently and the Safer Streets initiative has been widely applauded for helping to reduce the fear in many London communities.
In the nine years since former New York Mayor Rudolf Giuliani began his famous zero tolerance policy crime there has fallen by about 67 per cent.
Sir John said that his walk around Brixton showed that it was a "changed place" since he visited last year. He said: "Walking down Electric Avenue is a totally different experience.
"There were 15 known drugs dealers operating here when I came last time and they have all been nicked now.
There is no aggression being shown to us and the whole place has a less intimidating atmosphere.
"This is why we wear the uniform - to get out there and nick people and to put fear into the criminals not the people on the streets."
Operation Safer Streets has seen many officers taken from traffic duty.
The initiative was launched three years ago, modelled on New York.
Sir John said: "The helicopters are very effective and we often see crime rates plummeting in the areas where they are being used."
